Books read through 5/23/24

Looking for your next great read? Mayhaps you’re an intrusive individual who can’t stop thinking about what I do all day? Get a load of this inside scoop to what I’ve been reading!

Loved!

• Camp Damascus, by Chuck Tingle
• Guards! Guards! & Men at Arms, by Terry Pratchett
• Land of Milk & Honey, by C Pam Zhang
• The Wayfarer Series, by Becky Chambers
• Yellowface, by R. F. Kuang
• Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl, by Andrea Lawson
• The Salt Grows Heavy, by Cassandra Khaw
• The Future, by Naomi Alderman
• The Mimicking of Known Successes, by Malka Ann Older

I could go on for hours about the entries on this list. And I have, to my loved ones, multiple times.

Camp Damascus is a horror masterpiece. Read it. Go read it. Tingle’s new book, Bury Your Gays, is almost out, and I cannot wait.

The quartert Wayfarers series was a cozy, thought and heart provoking delight. I tore through the sprawling sci-fi universe over months, and then missed it terribly afterwards. A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet became an even longer journey to better understanding the world(s!) at large.

This is your sign to read Discworld. The sign is wooden and leaning a bit to the right. That’s how you know it’s a good, honest sign from reliable stock. I’ve been devouring the City Watch saga, starting with Guards! Guards!. I also recommend the Moist von Lipwig trilogy.

For the most offbeat entry on this list… how about a transsexual shapeshifter? Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl is about a college student in 90’s Iowa who sleeps his way into… a lesbian commune? This book broke my heart at least 4 times. The cover is bright pink. It’s the best.

Pretty Good!

• The Spirit Bares its Teeth, by Andrew Joseph White
• Princess Floralinda and the Forty Flight Tower, by Tamsyn Muir
• I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself, by Marisa Crane
• The Celebrants, by Steven Rowley

I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself was a really interesting exploration of marginalization engendering solidarity. The prose and premise blended in a way that created a mood that stuck with me for hours after the book got put down.

Not My Cuppa!

• Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros
• Axiom’s End, by Lindsay Ellis
• The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig
• Starter Villain, by John Scalzi
• Mister Magic, by Kiersten White
• The Wishing Game, by Meg Shaffer

Compiling this section of the list, I’m surprised how many of entries were runaway best sellers, a la couldn’t-get-a-copy-for-months, and how let down I wound up feeling once I cracked the spine and got inside. Then again, everyone has their own taste, and if populist isn’t yours, then that’s just to be expected!

For me, I found that Midnight Library and Fourth Wing were the two biggest flops for me, which I found surprising given their popularity. Plenty’s been said by far more articulate creators on their flaws, so I’ll just share this takeaway:

You can only read so many books a year, and there’s something to be said for focusing on the genres and topics you want to read more of rather than spending resources on whatever’s trendy.

Now, that doesn’t mean sticking to the same old same old! I’m just bitter that I can’t get back the time I spent with Yarros’ doorstopper, while there’s still a lot of Discworld to get through.

If you’d like to follow my lexical misadventures, you can follow me on GoodReads here! https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/117527518-kaia-ball